1.11.2016

2016 Summer Internship Opportunities at AALDEF

Apply for Legal and Undergraduate Internships at the Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), which protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, legal advocacy, and community education, is currently accepting applicants for legal and undergraduate internships in New York City for the summer of 2016.

Here are details about AALDEF's summer legal internship program:

2016 SUMMER LEGAL INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, legal advocacy, and community education. For more information about AALDEF, please visit our website at www.aaldef.org.

Internships for the summer of 2016 are available in the following program areas:

• Anti-Trafficking Initiative - Provide direct legal representation to victims and survivors of human trafficking by drafting petitions for immigration relief, conduct legal research and writing, engage in outreach, community education, and advocacy on the rights of exploited and abused workers.
• Community Health Care Initiative - legal research, community education and outreach in the areas of immigration, government benefits, language rights, and health care access.
• Economic Justice for Workers - legal research, advocacy and direct representation on behalf of Asian immigrant workers experiencing wage-and-hour, retaliation, and workplace safety violations in the restaurant, nail salon, domestic worker, and other low-wage industries.
• Educational Equity - community education, policy work, research, and litigation concerning educational equity in higher education.
• Housing & Environmental Justice Project - research and policy work on gentrification and other land use issues affecting low-income and Asian immigrant communities.
• Immigrant Access to Justice - litigation, legal services, and organizing/outreach with communities affected by post 9/11 immigration and law enforcement policies. An additional emphasis on Asian communities' access to representation and education about immigration policies and practices that may impact them, including deferred action policies and administrative relief for undocumented youth and other immigrants, unconstitutional DHS stops, and collaboration between state/local law enforcement and federal immigration enforcement. **Law students ONLY**
• Voting Rights - legal research and fact development under the Voting Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause challenging anti-Asian voter discrimination, advocacy on bilingual ballots, produce reports and organize public forums, assist in organizing election protection volunteers and legal trainings for the 2016 elections.

Description of Summer Internship Program: The summer program is ten weeks, from June 6 through August 12, 2016. Interns work full-time and are supervised by attorneys in specific program areas. Depending on the program area, interns will work on litigation, legal and policy advocacy, community outreach and education, or client intakes; each program area differs in emphasis. Summer interns attend weekly brown bag lectures on a range of public interest legal topics along with interns from other legal defense funds and civil rights groups. The position is unpaid. However, in previous years many AALDEF interns have been successful at securing independent funding. Academic credit can be arranged.

To Apply:
• Interested applicants should send a cover letter, resume, and writing sample to be received by AALDEF on or before Tuesday, January 19, 2016 at the address below. Please indicate in your cover letter the top three preferred program areas. Only law students qualify for AALDEF's legal internships. Applications may be faxed or emailed.
• Any bilingual ability should be stated in the application. Bilingual ability is helpful but not required. Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), Gujarati, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Indonesian and Urdu-speaking applicants are especially urged to apply.
• Applications will be reviewed upon receipt until the January 19, 2016 deadline. Interviewing will take place on a rolling basis. Only applicants who have been given interviews will be notified of their advancement in the application process.

For more information, contact: Annie J. Wang at 212-966-5932 x213 or awang@aaldef.org.

*Please do NOT email applications to Annie J. Wang.

Here are details about AALDEF: summer undergraduate program:

2016 SUMMER UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM

The Asian American Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), founded in 1974, protects and promotes the civil rights of Asian Americans through litigation, legal advocacy, and community education. For more information about AALDEF, please visit our website at www.aaldef.org.

Summer interns attend weekly brown bag lectures on a range of public interest legal topics along with interns from other legal defense funds and civil rights groups. The summer program is ten (10) weeks, beginning approximately June 6 through August 12, 2016. The position is unpaid. However, in previous years many AALDEF interns have been successful at securing independent funding and work-study funds may also be available. Academic credit can be arranged.

• Community Health Care Initiative Intern: community education and outreach in the areas of immigration, government benefits, language rights, and health care access.
• Educational Equity Intern: Responsibilities include community outreach and presentations with Asian American youth groups, public education policy research, assistance with client intakes and general support for projects on educational equity, juvenile justice, affirmative action, student free-speech and police surveillance, and anti-Asian harassment.
• Housing & Environmental Justice Project Intern: Responsibilities include community outreach and research on land use, community planning, and anti-displacement issues.
• Office Assistant: Responsibilities include data entry, organizing press clippings, answering phones, doing mailings, assisting with fundraising and other events, and performing general clerical duties. Other responsibilities include providing support for community education and outreach projects and acting as an interpreter/translator. Computer experience with databases, graphics and web programs is helpful.
• Voting Rights Intern: research and fact development under the Voting Rights Act and Equal Protection Clause challenging anti-Asian voter discrimination, advocacy on bilingual ballots, produce reports and organize public forums; assist in organizing legal trainings; conduct voter registration drives.

Requirements: Candidates must be detail-oriented and possess strong writing skills. Spoken and written knowledge of Korean, Bangla, Chinese, or another Asian language is a plus. Qualified applicants should indicate which internship they are applying for and send a resume and cover letter by Monday, February 8, 2016 to: